How Do I Connect My Phone to My Printer?

In today’s world we’ve come to expect to be able to do almost everything through our smartphones and that includes being able to print. There are also plenty of households that reply on their handheld devices to be able to print.

With that in mind I thought I’d go in to a bit of detail about how you would go about connecting your phone to a printer.

Using Wi-Fi

Make sure that you phone and your printer and connected to the same wireless network.

Download and install the printers app on your phone. Below is a list of apps depending on which printer model you have.

HP Printers - HP Smart app (for Apple Devices , for Android Devices )

Canon Printers – Canon PRINT app (for Apple Devices , for Android Devices )

Epson Printers – Epson iPrint app (for Apple Devices , for Android Devices )

Brother Printers – Brother iPrint&Scan app (for Apple Devices , for Android Devices )

Once you’ve installed the app follow the instructions to add your printer and start printing. These instructions will differ slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Direct Wi-Fi Connection

Most printers also offer something called Wi-Fi Direct. In essence this enables your devices including your phone and tablets to connect to your printer by creating their own Wi-Fi network, thus not needing a separate internet connection.

On your phone go to the Internet/Wi-Fi settings, find the printers network and connect to it. Once you’ve done that all you’ll need to do is select a picture or a document and go through the print options on your printers app to print.

Using Bluetooth

Provided your printer has Bluetooth, enable it on both your printer and your phone.

Pair the devices by opening Bluetooth on your phone, searching for your printer and select it then follow the pairing steps.

Once paired open a document or select and photo and select the print option. You’ll be presented with a list of available printers.

Using NFC (Near Field Communication)

Check first of all that your printer supports NFC printing as this isn’t a standard feature.

Turn on NFC on your phone and your printer.

NFC is super convenient for so many things we use today, especially when paying for things. So all you should need to do is tap your phone on the printers NFC tag. You’ll then be prompted to complete your print job.

Using a USB Cable

More commonplace than Wi-Fi printing, your printer will almost certainly support USB printing but you will need to check if it supports USB printing from a phone.

Connect your printer to your phone using a USB OTG (On the Go) cable. You may be prompted to install a specific app or drivers.

Select the document or photo you want to print and select your connected printer.

Using Cloud Printing Services

Some printers support other cloud services. Check your printer’s manual for supported services and set them up accordingly.

By following any of the steps above you should be able to connect your phone to your printer and print to your heart’s content.

Blog Author: Simon Cross is the engaging and knowledgeable voice behind the insightful articles on printers and printer consumables at IJT Direct, an ecommerce store renowned for its comprehensive selection of printers, printer consumables, and hardware. View Simons author page to find out more about him.